La Palma airport tops Canary Islands punctuality despite biggest slide

In October, Santa Cruz de La Palma Airport was the most punctual in the Canary Islands. This is evident from the month’s departure data, which also shows that, on average, flights from the six Canary Islands airports analysed took off more than eleven minutes behind schedule.

Fuerteventura was the farthest behind schedule. Flights from there departed on average 12 minutes and 38 seconds late; in September, the figure had been 11 minutes and 26 seconds. The on-time rate – that is, the proportion of departures with a delay of no more than 15 minutes – fell by 1.4 percentage points to 73.9 per cent.

Although Santa Cruz de La Palma tops the list, no other airport in the Canary Islands saw such a sharp decline compared with the previous month.

La Palma: The most punctual airport in the Canary Islands is losing ground significantly

The results vary depending on the indicator. In terms of average delay, Fuerteventura came last, whilst Lanzarote and Tenerife South trailed behind in terms of the proportion of on-time departures. Lanzarote recorded the lowest proportion of on-time departures.

The biggest decline was seen in Santa Cruz de La Palma, where the average delay increased from 7 minutes and 11 seconds to 11 minutes and 30 seconds, and the on-time departure rate fell from 82 per cent to 75 per cent. In addition, 2.6 per cent of flights were cancelled – more than at any other airport in the Canary Islands. In September, Tenerife North had recorded the highest proportion of cancellations at 1.5 per cent.

Tenerife South has seen the most significant improvement in its punctuality

Tenerife South saw the most significant improvement. The airport in the south of the island reduced its average delay from 13 minutes and 21 seconds to 12 minutes and 28 seconds, whilst the on-time performance rate rose from 70.4 per cent to 73.5 per cent.

Where there is little traffic, delays can be absorbed more easily as the day progresses. In October, Santa Cruz de La Palma handled less than a fifth of the departures from Gran Canaria, the busiest airport. Calculated over the year to date, La Palma leads in terms of average delay at 9 minutes and 10 seconds, whilst Tenerife North leads in terms of the on-time rate at 79 per cent. The table ranks the airports for October according to average delay; the on-time rate is shown in a separate column.